Two young men from the Archdiocese of Vancouver were among the six-member team that completed this year’s Canadian Death Race alongside Saskatoon Bishop Mark Hagemoen, raising funds for the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund.

Brothers Kieran and Ronan Gillespie, originally from Crescent Beach and parishioners of Good Shepherd Parish, joined Bishop Hagemoen’s relay team Dum Spiro Spero (“While I breathe, I hope”) in the 118-kilometre ultramarathon held Aug. 2–3 in Grande Cache, Alta. The team finished sixth in the men’s relay with a time of 17:03:04.

Ronan, 21, who recently attended St. Therese Institute of Faith and Mission in Bruno, Sask., ran the second leg — a stretch he described with some apprehension before the race.

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“Unfortunately, my training has not worked out as planned, and I am doing one of the most challenging legs,” he wrote. “However, my heart and will are strong, and things are picking up recently. The race will be a great challenge, but united by faith with these brothers, I am certain that our team will accomplish this great race and pilgrimage.”

His older brother Kieran, 24, took on Leg 4, describing the event as both a physical and spiritual challenge.

“It’s a race of epic proportions, and the challenge entices me,” he wrote. “Pushing my body to its limits, pushing through pain with mental toughness to conquer the wilderness: epic.”

And yet, he said, “The interior life is the place of real struggle and joy, and though this race will be physically challenging, the bigger journey will take place within.”

He added: “It is one of the greatest joys in life to do God’s will alongside my brothers, and as we travel, converse, and pray together, I know God will speak in our hearts.”

Bishop Hagemoen, who has now completed seven Death Races, ran Leg 1 and said the annual effort is both a physical feat and a sign of hope and reconciliation.

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“It’s an honour to run on behalf of our diocese, along with the other young men on our team as we join together in this ‘race-pilgrimage,’” he said.

The run also represents “the long, adventurous, arduous journey of reconciliation and healing, which features much-needed mercy, perseverance, and patience,” said the bishop. “It is the little things that matter in the long journey of relationship-building.”

Participating in the run “is perhaps a symbol of the many steps forward on a long journey to what I hope and pray is God’s plan for us all.”

Other team members included:

• Maximilian Connelly, 23, of Lloydminster, Sask., who was to run Leg 3 but had to be replaced by Mallett due to injury;
• Joseph Cote, 19, of Terrace, B.C., who ran Leg 5;
• and Ryan Mallett, also of Lloydminster, who served as backup.

Connelly, an aspiring Catholic speaker, described running as a “mental and spiritual tool” and said he was excited for his second Death Race with the team. “The first time, I prayed the entire time out of fear — this time, I hope to do the same, but out of joy.”

Cote called the race a pilgrimage. “God loves to use pilgrimages to challenge me and bring me deeper in my faith and in relationship with Him,” he said.

Mallett, who recently walked the Camino de Santiago and is preparing for marriage, added: “As with last year, it’s good to have a bishop along – in case there’s a need to administer the last rites!”

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This was the fifth fundraising run supported by the Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation since 2021 in aid of the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund. Bishop Hagemoen has called the race “Death… to Life,” aligning the endurance challenge with the long road of reconciliation and the Church’s call to hope and mercy during the Jubilee Year 2025.

From Catholic Saskatoon News/Canadian Catholic News via The B.C. Catholic